SSJE Sermons

“Here is real rest: walking, working, living in rhythm with Jesus.” Br. Luke Ditewig reflects on how, paradoxically, we will find rest by working with Jesus.

“God is the sole plumb line; God the sole provider for those who seek to venture into His love; any effort of ours is only brought to maturity or fruition by God’s grace and provision.” Br. Sean Glenn cautions against our cultural presumptions of maturity, discovering instead the grace of seeing ourselves as yet unformed, uninitiated, and even immature.

“Repentance might involve falling to our knees and taking upon our lips words hallowed by tradition. It might involve pausing the instant we become aware that we have lost our guiding orientation toward God and an unceremonious 'oops, I’m sorry.' In either case, if it is genuine, repentance will involve us intimately with others.” Br. Keith Nelson rediscovers how Jesus' words about repentance are directed to each of us, and often spoken by the messengers we least expect.

“'Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons.' In taking up this mission with Jesus, the twelve are called to radical dependence on the provision of God. And so are you and I.” Br. Jonathan Maury reflects on how we can be and become the miracle workers Jesus describes when he calls his disciples to the work of the Kingdom.

“'My whole life I have been complaining that my work was constantly interrupted, until I discovered that my interruptions were my work'” Br. David Vryhof invites us to reconsider the interruptions that plague us as opportunities for grace.

“Jesus is the point at which heaven and Earth are met. He actualizes on Earth that which will be possible in heaven.” Summer Seminarian Sam Aldred looks to the Gospel for two examples of how we can respond to the knowledge of who Jesus Christ is.

“Although we cannot be young forever, we can have inner youthfulness. Being youthful means our hearts are full of passion, love, kindness and sincerity. If we only want to look younger but not to have a child-like heart, we are doing it in a wrong way.” Summer Seminarian Elizabeth Phyu urges us to claim our inner youthfulness by allowing our light to shine.

“Love of God can only be accomplished by committing to the equally large task of love of neighbor as self.” Br. Jim Woodrum tackles the messy, inconvenient, challenging, and essential call to "chesed": loving-kindness, compassion, mercy.

“It doesn’t take much, and in an instant there is a moment, a movement, a presence, a strange voice, a greeting, a command, a promise, and everything is different. It doesn’t take much, and suddenly we are aware of a Presence; of the Divine; of God. It doesn’t take much, and we know that God is in our midst.” Br. James Koester encourages us to keep watch for the many, small, and powerful ways that God acts amidst the ordinary, routine events of our lives.

“More than familiar words of comfort, this prayer challenges our easy temptations to imagine that we ourselves are the authors of our own salvation and the world’s.” Br. Sean Glenn unravels the familiar words of the Lord's Prayer to uncover its difficult revelation.